Pressure-sensitive tape dispenser



July 18, 1961 c. CASTELLI PRESSURE-SENSITIVE TAPE DISPENSER Filed March31, 1958 ATTORN EY United States Patent The present invention relates todispensers for pressuresensitive adhesive tape,'more particularly todispensers wherein the tape in roll form is carried on a core which ismounted for ready removal from the dispenser and replacement therein.

Dispensers have been provided for pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes,such as cellophane tape, which are highly functional and eflicient, andat the same time, extremely simple and inexpensive. Typical of these isa dispenser formed from a single piece of sheet metal folded to provideopposed side walls and an end wall connecting them. At the opposite endof the dispenser, a front wall with a serrated cutting edge facing awayfrom the roll is provided. This may be an extension of one or both ofthe side walls or an additional piece of meal secured thereto. In orderto hold the end of the tape in position for dispensing, a flat portion,or platform, adjoining the cutting edge is provided. This platform isspaced from the tape roll and those portions of the side walls betweenthe rear of the platform and the roll are depressed to allow the tapeextending over the platform to be picked up by the fingers; Dispensersof equivalent construction also have been molded from inexpensiveplastic materials.

Such a dispenser is operated by picking up the end of the tape, drawingit over the platform and the serrated cutting edge, and then pulling itdown over the cutting edge in such a way that the tape is torn along theserra tions. The end of that portion of the tape which is at tached tothe roll remains adhered to the platform just inside the cutting edge,thereby providing a length of tape which may be lifted readily from theplatform and drawn out to the desired length for future dispensing.

In dispensers of this type the top and bottom are left open for easyaccess to the roll and to save material, and the roll is wound upon acore which may be mounted on annular flanges or flange portionsstruck-in from the opposed side walls of the dispenser to act as hubmeans for the roll. Thus, if desired, the roll may be removed from thedispenser by spreading the walls to pull the struck-in flanges outbeyond the edges of the core. A new roll of tape then may be installedin the dispenser merely by reversing this operation. The dispenser maybe designed to be disposed of after the original roll is used up or itmay be designed to be re-usable with new rolls, in which case aconstruction wherein the walls are not connected at the rear of thedispenser is desirable.

Unfortunately, problems have arisen in dispensing plastic tapes such asthose made from vinyl polymers or copolymers and similar materials, fromdispensers of this type. Vinyl tapeis relatively soft and strechable andtends to pull out of shape when drawn down over a serrated edge fortearing with the result that it is difficult to tear and the end of thetape is distorted so that an irregular edge is left.

The present invention contemplates a dispenser of the type describedwhich is particularly suitable for dispensing vinyl tapes and tapes ofsimilar materials. This dispenser includes means for severing the tapewithout the necessity for stretching it, thereby avoiding theabove-described diflicu'lties. At the same time, the dispenser of thisinvention includes the important advantages of the prior art cellophanetape dispensers, i.e., the dispenser may be stamped from one or twopieces of metal or molded from 2,992,582 Patented July 18, 1961 "ice aninexpensive plastic material, the dispenser may be designed so' thattape rolls may be removed from and replaced in the dispenser with ease,and the like. The tape severing means of this invention comprises a tapecutter which works in conjunction with means, such as a slot, in or onthe tape severing platform for cutting directly through the tape. Thetape cutter is mounted on a tape severing arm, which in turn isremovably mounted for rotation on the hub of the dispenser. Thus, if thedispenser'is designed to be re-usable, spent cores and/or tape rolls maybe removed easily and/or installed in the dispenser merely by removingthe tape severing arm and then spreading the sides of the dispenser asdescribed above in connection with the prior art cellophane tapedispensers. Otherwise, the tape severing arm may be re moved as justdescribed and installed on a new dispenser with a full roll of tape asoften as it is desired to use a new dispenser.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the tape severingarm is held on the hub by opposed resilient ears depending from the rearof the arm. The distance beween the tips of the cars is less than thedistance across the Widest portion of the hub and the ears aresufficiently resilient that the tips are spread and snapped down aroundthe hub in rotatable engagement therewith when the rear end of the armis pressed down over the hub. Preferably, the hub comprises opposedannular flanges or flange portions extending inwardly from oppositesides of the dispenser and the ears are in two pairs, each attached toopposed sides of the rear end of the tape severing arm. 'The tapesevering arm may be removed readily from the dispenser merely by pullingupwardly upon the rear end of the arm with suflicient force to spreadthe tips of the ears to clear the hub. Other and further advantages ofthe invention will be apparent from the following description and claimtaken together with the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a dispenser according to oneembodiment of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a somewhat enlarged side view partly in section andpartly inelevation of the dispenser of FIG. 1;

FIGURE?) is a partially cut away end view partly in section and partlyin elevation of the dispenser of FIG. 2 taken along the line 33 thereof;

' FIGURE 4 'is a top plan view of the dispenser of FIG. 2;

FIGURE 5 is a greatly enlarged sectional view showing a portion of thestructure of the front end of the dispenser of FIGS. land 2; and

FIGURE 6 is a view in perspective of the tape severing arm and cutter ofthe dispenser of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown one embodiment of a dispenseraccording to this invention which comprisesopposed side walls 11 andfront and rear end walls 12 and 13, respectively. The side walls 11 andthe rear wall 13 all are formed from the same sheet of material which inthis case is a thin sheet metal which is conventional in dispensers ofthis general type. A tape roll 14 carried on a core 15 is mounted forrotation on annular flanges 16 extending inwardly from the oppositesides 11 of the dispenser. The flanges 16 fit inside the core 15 of theroll and act as hub means therefor. As shown in detail in FIG. 5, thefront wall'lZ of the dis penser is shaped from a separate piece ofmaterial which has crimped flanges 17 along its vertical edges whichdovetail with similar crimped anges 18 at the front edge of each of theside walls 11. The front wall 12 is inclined away from the tape roll 14in an upward direction and terminates in a bent over portion whichserves as a platform 19. at the top of the front wall. The sides 11 ofthe dispenser are relatively high and more or less co-extensive with thesides of the tape roll 14 adjacent the rear wall 13 of the dispenser,and are relatively low and depressed below the platform 19 adjacent thefront wall thereof. The dispenser is crimped to form beads 20 extendingalong the top and bottom of the side and rear end walls. The beadseliminate sharp edges and add to the rigidity of the dispenserstructure. Similarly, the platform 19 has shallow depending flanges 21around its edges to improve its rigidity.

A tape severing arm 22 carrying a V-shaped serrated tape cutter 23 alsois mounted for rotation on the flanges or hub means 16. The tape cutter23 extends downwardly from the outer end of the tape severing arm 22which, in turn, is positioned so as to come into contact with theplatform 19 when the tape severing arm is rotated in a pathsubstantially concentric with the tape roll 14. Means is provided in theform of a slot 24 in the platform for cooperating with the tape cutter23 for severing a length of tape. The tape cutter 23 and the slot 24 arelocated with respect to one another and the tape severing arm 22 ismounted in such a way, that when the arm is rotated into and out ofcontact with the platform 19,'the cutter 23 enters and leaves the slot.The inner end of the tape severing arm 22 comprises a transverse portion25 above the tape and opposed flanges 26 depending from the sides ofsaid transverse portion. Each of these flanges 26 terminates in hubengaging means for rotatably mounting the tape severing arm 22 on theinwardly projecting annular flanges 16. As is shown most clearly inFIGS. 2 and 6, each of the hub engaging means comprises opposed ears 27adapted to extend around a major portion of the periphery of the annularflanges 16; the angle at subtended by said peripheral portion beingsubstantially greater than 180. The cars 27 are shaped from materialwhich is sufficiently resilient to allow the tape severing arm to besnapped into position on the dispenser merely by pressing the rear endof the arm downwardly so that the ears snap around the annular flanges16 and then removed therefrom by pulling the same end of the dispenserupwardly to spread the (lugs 27 so that they again pass over the annularflanges It will be seen that a roll of tape or a spent tape core may beremoved from the dispenser by first removing the tape severing arm, asdescribed above, spreading the sides 11 of the dispenser to pull theannular flanges 16 outside the edges of the tape core 15, and thenlifting the roll or the core out through the top, or for that matter,the bottom, of the dispenser. Preferably, the roll or core is removedfrom the top of the dispenser since the tops of the upstanding sides ofthe dispenser which present the annular flanges 16 are more free to moveoutwardly or away from one another with less resistance from thestructure of the dispenser than are the bottoms of these same sides.

An upwardly extending projection 31 or rounded flange is provided at therear of the transverse portion 25 of the tape severing arm 22 and thearm is inclined upwardly somewhat from the transverse portion 25 to thetape cutter 23. The transverse portion 25 with the projection 31 at oneend and the portion extending upwardly to the cutter 23 at the otheracts as a finger rest and controlling device which is useful inoperating the dispenser as will be described more fully hereinafter.

In operation, the tape severing arm 22 is rotated counter-clockwise,with respect to FIG. 2, to lift the tape cutter 23 out of the slot 24 inthe platform and out of the way of a length 32 of tape extending fromthe roll 14 to the platform 19. In this first position of the tapesevering arm, the tape 32 extending from the roll to the platform may bepicked up by the fingers and tape may be withdrawn from the roll 14 bypulling on the length 32 and causing the roll to rotate on the annularflanges 16. When a desired length is withdrawn,

the tape is pulled down into contact with the platform 19 in such a waythat the desired length is positioned beyond the slot 24 in the platformand the tape is adhered to the platform 19 on both the front and theback edges of the slot. Then the tape severing arm 22 is rotated in theopposite direction about the annular flanges 16 so that the tape cutter23 comes into contact with the tape adhered to the platform 19 and thenenters the slot 24 in the platform. In the course of the movement of thetape severing arm and the cutter 23 to this second position in which thecutter is fully inserted in the slot 24 in the platform, the cutter actsin cooperation with the edges of the slot to sever the tape. 'Since thetape is adhered to the platform in front and in back of the slot 24,there is practically no room for the tape to stretch and distort as itis being cut and both edges of the tape, i.e., the trailing edge of thecut length and the leading edge remaining attached to the roll, areregular and straight. It is an advantage of the dispenser of thisinvention that it may be held in one hand positioned on the finger restprovided by the transverse portion 25 of the tape severing arm 22 andadjacent parts of the arm with the thumb of that hand, and except forwithdrawing the desired length of tape from the roll, the dispenser maybe operated completely by the hand holding the dis penser.

The cutting edge of the tape cutter 23 is serrated and in the shape ofan inverted V which is wider than flie tape to be cut. However thecutting edge may be in any one of several shapes or forms. For instance,it may be smooth and knife-like, having a straight edge, a V, or pointededge, or even an inverted V shaped edge. It may consist of several sharppoints or prongs, or it even may be inclined fro-m one side of the tapeto the other.

Having now described the invention in specific detail and exemplifiedthe manner in which it may be carried into practice, it will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art that innumerable variations,applications, modifications, and extensions of the basic principlesinvolved may be made without departing from its spirit or scope.

The claims are:

A dispenser for an annular roll of normally tacky and pressure-sensitiveadhesive tape comprising a pair of opposed parallel side walls spaced toaccommodate a roll of such tape, said side walls having opposed inwardlyprojecting annular hub portions for rotatably supporting the rollbetween the side walls, said hub portions projecting only partially intothe hollow portion formed by the annular roll of tape and said sidewalls being sufficiently resilient that they may be flexed outwardly tomove the inner extremities of said hub portions beyond the sides of thetape roll to allow removal of the tape roll from the dispenser, aplatform located more radially remote from said hub than are theperipheral portions of said walls adjacent said roll and the peripheryof said roll and to which a dispensed length of tape pulled from theroll will adhere when the adhesive side thereof and the platform arebrought into engagement, means associated with the platform to cooperatein severing a length of tape adhered thereto, a tape severing armslidably mounted on said hub for rotation in a path substantiallyconcentric with said roll from one position permitting withdrawal of alength of tape from the roll and its engagement with the platform to asecond position, a tape cutter at the outer end of said arm forengagement with said platform when said arm is moved into said secondposition, said tape cutter in its movement to said second positionacting in cooperation with said means on the platform to sever the tapeadhered thereto, and hub engaging means depending from the inner end ofsaid arm for embracing said annular hub and rotatably mounting said armthereon between tape roll and the respective side walls, said hubengaging means comprising opposed resilient ears adapted to extendaround the widest 5 part of said hub portions, the distance between thetips of said ears being less than the distance across the widest part ofsaid hub portions, whereby the tape severing arm normally is held on thehub portions but may be removed therefrom and replaced thereon byresiliently flexing the ears to increase and decrease the distancebetween their tips, thereby allowing the arm to be removed and replacedeasily on the hub portion of the dispenser when it is desired to place anew roll of tape therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS SchulzFeb. 10, 1914 Lemaster May 11, 1937 Alliss Mar. 10, 1942 Martin Feb. 12,1957 FOREIGN PATENTS France May 6, 1957

